One of the most common mistakes that new and inexperienced small business owners make is opening their doors without sufficient insurance coverage, or any for that matter. As a result, their budget absorbs the full brunt in the event of a financial calamity. Regardless of your business’ industry and focus, its products and services, and strategies employed, you’ll need insurance to protect your brainchild as it goes public.

1. It’s the Law

According to the Small Business Administration, businesses with employees must carry a certain level of insurance including worker’s compensation, unemployment, and disability, more or less be depending on the state where your business is registered. Failure to comply with this law can lead to substantial fines, civil or criminal charges, and even a “cease and desist” order.

2. Lawsuits are Just Around the Corner

The current society we live in is a litigious one. In the unfortunate circumstance that your business is threatened with a lawsuit or liability charge, your business could either buckle and land back on its feet or collapse entirely. It all depends on whether or not you have insurance. Remember, it only takes one accident, one contract not honored, or one disgruntled employee to ruin your business’ finances.

3. Keep Your Business Operational

Imagine what would happen to your business in the event of a fire, flood, or riot that causes storefront damages amounting to thousands of dollars, and you had no insurance to cover it? Per Upside Insurance (http://www.upsideinsurancegreenville.com/), having full insurance coverage protects you from property damages and makes sure that your assets including building, equipment, and inventory can be replaced as soon as possible to get your business up and running with minimal losses.

4. Insurance Makes You Look Credible

Having business insurance makes you more legitimate in the eyes of customers and potential investors. It shows that you are a safe bet and that you’ll likely be around for the years to come. Not having insurance communicates the opposite to the public as it could lead to financial insolvency in just one bad turn of the wheel. That is the whole reason why businesses feature statements, such as “Licensed, Bonded, and Insured,” in their marketing content.

5. Safeguards Employees

Your employees are your most important asset. You’ll want to protect them in the event of an injury that transpires in the workplace. The law requires companies to have worker’s comp on their insurance plan. And while disability coverage is optional, you should consider adding it to your policy even if you need to offset some of the expenses to your employees. Carrying insurance that covers their health and well-being can also give your workforce some confidence and morale boost.

Final Thoughts

Whether it’s a disgruntled employee causing your customer’s bodily harm or a freak accident that leads to property damages of the building next door, you’ll want to have a financial safety net to cushion the blow. Now that you know all of the reasons to get insurance, the next step is actually finding one that suits your business’ needs and circumstances.

Working for yourself can be a fun and rewarding way to live your adult life. While you still have to put in the hours and work hard to be successful, being an entrepreneur gives you a sense of freedom that you don’t always as an employee of another company. What are some other reasons why being an entrepreneur rocks?

1. Your Hard Work Directly Benefits the Company (And Your Wallet)

As an employee, you are limited to how much you are allowed to contribute to the success of your employer. If you have an idea, it may not be approved or otherwise acted upon by management. Unless you are on commission, your salary is the same no matter how well you do your job or how much money it makes your employer. This is why many people get bored or burned out as employees. However, when you work for yourself, your success almost directly correlates with what you do or don’t do.

2. You Create Your Own Culture

When you worked for the grocery store down the street, your easygoing attitude may have been mistaken for laziness or a lack of drive. However, when you create your own company, you can be as easygoing or as intense as you want to, with no one to tell you otherwise. Ultimately, you are allowed to create and see your vision for the ideal company culture through to the end. Today, some of the biggest companies in the U.S. are known for their great corporate cultures (see Google, Facebook, and Twitter) because their entrepreneurial founders set the tone during start-up phase.

3. Everyone Has a Say

At the beginning of a new venture, you may be the only employee of your company. In some cases, you may have a small pool of founders or employees working with or for you. Regardless, each person has to play a vital role in coming up with ideas for new products, services or how to innovate while keeping costs in check. Therefore, everyone has a voice and is on relatively equal footing when it comes to making the company the best it can be. That can be a powerful force that creates revolutionary products or transforms how businesses operate in general. Co-founders of SEO Austin firm, Moonraker Marketing, say the transition to self-employment has been empowering for this very reason. Now instead of trying to be heard by superiors, the entrepreneurial duo is calling the shots. The autonomy and equality allows their different skillsets to flourish, making them a formidable force in the search engine marketing world.

4. There Is Always a New Challenge

Running your own business means that you are directly involved in developing products, finding new sources of funding, and dealing with customers. This means that you will rarely have a boring or predictable day. While at first this may seem daunting, eventually that excitement and challenge is what will ultimately drive you to get up every morning and do more than you thought possible.

5. Almost Any Idea Can Be a Profitable One

As an entrepreneur, there is always a reason to learn something new or delve deeper into a topic that you are interested in. Learning more about the game of golf could lead you to creating a better golf club while learning about how to clean swimming pools may lead to you to develop a product that does it better and safer. These ideas and more can lead to huge profits and financial security for life. For example, those who watch ABC’s Shark Tank may remember the pitch for Scrub Daddy, a scrubber that has revolutionized how millions of Americans do their dishes. The idea was drummed up by founder Aaron Krause, who created the line of scrubbers after tinkering with different methods for washing his hands after working in his machine shop. He realized the polymer material he created actually functioned well as a household scrubbing tool. The Sharks agreed, and today, with the backing of Lori Greiner, the Company has become the most successful Shark Tank product of all time.

Being an entrepreneur is unlike any other experience that you will ever have. Each day, you wake up trying to make the best possible life for yourself and your family by taking actions that attempt to make life better for your customers and the community as a whole.

At last week’s rotary meeting, we heard from Theodore Stewart, owner of Cheap Dallas Movers (www.cheapdallasmovers.net), on the importance of licensing, bonding, and insurance in the moving industry. While he spoke specifically to his experience, these terms have broader application across most industries. For instance, attorneys, CPAs, doctors, and more must have the proper licensing, and nearly all businesses should carry some type of insurance such as mal-practice insurance, professional insurance, product liability, etc.

Here is a recap of Theodore’s presentation. As you read this, keep in mind how his points may apply to your business:

There are a lot of factors that go into a customer’s decision to hire a moving company. First, customers want to make sure the company they hire is affordable. Next, they want to make sure the company has the experience to get the job done right. After that, customers need to make sure the moving company has the availability to complete their move in a specified timeframe. Finally, and most importantly, customers want to make sure that the moving company they choose is licensed, bonded and insured.

What It Means to Be Licensed

A person can’t necessarily just buy a van and then start marketing him or herself as a mover, though many choose to go this route by offering their amateur moving services on platforms like Craigslist. Legitimate moving companies must comply with state and federal regulations in order to qualify as licensed movers. Licensing qualifies a company to act as an agent for transporting goods for either intrastate or interstate moves. Maintaining a current license, in moving, or in any other field, tells customers that you are: 1) up to industry standards, 2) you care about your business, and 3) you care about your customers. No matter what industry you’re in, make sure you take the proper steps to get licensed and maintain your licensed.

What It Means to Be Bonded

Clients aren’t going to hire a moving company unless you can contractually guarantee delivery according to certain terms, including dates. But what happens when the unexpected interferes and causes you to breach an agreement? If you’re bonded, it means that a bonding company has ensured your payment of losses through collection of collateral. Though sometimes confused with insurance, bonding is different because of the collateral you are required to put up. Bonding is common not only in the moving industry, but with general contractors, janitorial services, and more. It can be a great way to reassure customers that you can be trusted to pay up if something with your agreement goes awry.

What It Means to Be Insured

While you might be able to pay for breach of contract violations, lost or stolen property claims, accidents and damages out of pocket, it’s much easier to do so when you have the right insurance. Customers prefer to work with insured movers because the likelihood of being made whole after a loss is higher when a company has an insurance policy that covers them. In many cases, moving companies are required by state and federal regulations to have certain types of insurance, but they can also secure even more coverage beyond that to help protect their company, their employees and their clients. Insurance is important across a wide spectrum of businesses, and can keep your business from going bottoms-up should something unforeseen happen.

You can’t force a client to choose your company over the competition, but you can definitely make it easier for them to do so by making your company the more attractive choice. In addition to having the right equipment, availability and training, consider the added benefits of being licensed, bonded and insured to attract customers.

Moving day can be hectic especially if you are not aware of what to do and what to expect. However, with adequate knowledge, good plans and procedures, the whole process is easy and enjoyable as well. The information below will give you a better understanding of what ought to be done and what ought not to be done on a moving day. The first rule of moving is to work with a reputable mover. Working with the best movers in Austin is going to make moving day a breeze!

Things To Understand About Moving Day
1. Be Organized; Make a Floor Plan
The movers might not be aware of the structure of your new premises and your way of arrangement of items. In this case, try and have a floor plan that indicates placement of particular furniture and other items. Deciding on floor arrangements of your premises on arrival will waste much of your time; make up your mind earlier.

2. Ensure You Are There During Parking And Loading
Do not leave everything to the movers; you are the boss, so ensure you stick around. In any case you are tired up somewhere else; send a representative; a friend or probably a relative who has knowledge of all items to be moved. When the movers give you a list of the valuables they have parked, go through it carefully and ensure everything is loaded in the truck or van.

3. Moving Day Is A Busy Day; Eliminate All Distractions
Moving day is a busy day for you and the movers; distractions kids or pets make as they move up and down make the day even worse. It is, therefore, advisable to look for someone to take care of your children and pets if any, to avoid accidents and disturbances.

4. Make Earlier Plans of the Parking Space of The Truck
On arrival at your new premises, the truck or van carrying your belongings should be parked at a strategic place for easier offloading. Let’s have a look at these two types of destinations;
• A low-rise building
Park the truck at the front of the house directly to the door.
• A high-rise premises
Further arrangements such as the elevator or lifts to be used should be made if moving to an upper floor of a tall building.These plans will reduce the overall time used by the movers to carry items inside.

5. Moving Day Is a Tiresome Day; Park Refreshments and Snacks
Thirst and hunger are usual feelings on a tiresome and busy day. Park foods and drinks in a separate and well-labeled box that is easily accessible. You can make coffee, buy fruits or anything consumable.

6. Leave Your Old House in Good Condition
You should be the last person to leave the house. Make sure everything moves out. Switch off the lights, water suppliers and unplug all that needs to be unplugged. Do not leave the windows and doors open.

Finally, on moving day, stay in touch with the movers when they leave for your new home. Your cell phone should remain switched on. Take care of important documents and keys; in fact, you better carry them personally rather than park them with the other belongings. On arrival, confirm that all items are there and in a perfect state.

With the above information, your moving day will be a stress-free day. If you have trouble with your current movers, or they are a no-show. Call Apple Moving for reliable moving services.

We all know there are a lot of different moving service companies out there and it can be hard to decide which one you should use for your move. Here are some helpful tips that should help make your choice a little easier!

Determine Your Needs

One of the very first things you will need to do is determine exactly what your needs are from the moving service you will use. If you just need to rent a truck to use then you should look for companies that allow for just truck rentals. This is one of the most cost effective ways to move but you have to do all the physical labor and/or get help from others. There are also several moving companies that will bring a truck to you, move your packed belongings and furniture, then put them in your new location as well. This is more expensive but can be most beneficial if you do not have help from other people or even if you have limitations on what you yourself can physically manage. Alternatively, you could opt for aNYC moving company servicescompany to help you load your own uhaul and get your belongings put onto the truck. No matter what your needs might be it will be most beneficial for you to already have all of your belongings packed prior to renting a truck or the moving truck and men arrive to help you. You should be aware that some, if not all, companies around you may charge you by the hour for services. This is especially true if the company is doing all the labor for you so use the time wisely!

Research Companies

It is a good idea to research themoving service NYCcompanies that are available for you to use. Not only should you visit the company website to find reviews from previous customers but ask people you know that have used services before. You are also going to want to get price quotes as well to determine which companies will best fit your needs as well as your budget! Even if a company has the best reviews but is outside of your budget then you should most likely not use that company. You are going to want to make sure you are not only getting the best service available to you but that you are also getting your money’s worth for the service!